Our leading modern historian
on what it is to be British
1000th Lecture
"Reflections: Britain's International Future"
1000th Lecture"Reflections: Britain's International Future"
Lord Peter Hennessy
Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History,
Queen Mary University of London
Peter Hennessy studied at St John's College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in 1969 (and much later a PhD in 1990). He was a Kennedy Memorial Scholar at Harvard University from 1971 to 1972.
As a journalist for over 20 years, with spells on The Times, Financial Times and The Economist, Peter unearthed the hidden wiring of the constitution and the power of the machinery of government in Britain.
Those themes remained at the heart of his research and teaching at Queen Mary College London when he moved from journalism to academia in 1992. Since then, it has been his aim to write the history of Britain in his own times, for academic and public audiences alike.
On 5 October 2010 the House of Lords Appointments Commission announced that Peter Hennessy was to be a non-political crossbench peer.I'm terribly pleased and honoured," he said at hearing the news. "I hope I can help the House of Lords a bit on constitutional matters. I'll certainly give it my best shot.”
Peter Hennessy is the Honorary President of Keele World Affairs.
